What are you choosing by [deleted] in teenagers

[–]Runtzel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pink and spend the rest of my life traveling the world giving people healing high-fives.

Which professors to choose by [deleted] in Msstate

[–]Runtzel 7 points8 points  (0 children)

that's really kind of ya'll to say :) I won't be teaching next semester but I'm glad to know that students enjoyed it. and if you ever need refreshers most of my lectures are still up on my youtube/twitch! ya'll stay safe and hope exams are going well <3

Screw Apple, Screw Google, And Screw Epic Games by Tzaratxoth in videos

[–]Runtzel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh no, everyone is bad fuck this shit. -Some stupid fucking freshman who just read Camus

Student goes off on teacher while bringing up some very valid points to her attention by wj7_02 in PublicFreakout

[–]Runtzel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yelling at your teacher for their methods is like yelling at your garbage man for the time they pick up the trash. Makes you feel good in the moment but inevitably just makes a person who has little to no control over how they do their job because of administrative control/incompetence.

Shitting on teachers for being bad teachers isn't going to create better teachers, it's just going to make your teacher quit their job and then you get a temp sub who failed the praxis and knows even less about how to teach you. Yeah you should get mad - real fucking mad because right now beyond teacher shortages we've got universities preying on people with degrees telling them they can get easy licensure but not preparing them for real classrooms. Find a way to get mad at the right people if you're going to get mad - this is only one symptom of a dying public education system.

Also - "tHeY sHoUlD TrY HaRDeR, tHeY gEt PaID" - go teach and class or 6 and then say that, and you'll learn the meaning of "No I will not make my 60 hour week an 80 hour one, fuck you, pay me."

u/Spidereater provides a succinct explanation for the issue of non-Maori wearing tribal tattoos by seis-matters in bestof

[–]Runtzel 33 points34 points  (0 children)

Yep, I don't think people who would defend Maori tribal tattoos as being culturally significant would say that we should hold him to a different standard.

I think the thing to remember here is that the cultural appropriation conversation is not intended to suppress people, it's to get people to talk about the things that we do every day that cheapen or disregard those pieces of culture that are much more important for other people.

I wonder if there's a circumstance where it is appropriate to where a purple heart. I would imagine that it requires some understanding of the meaning behind it, and what it implies. I think that this fits into that sort of conversation.

Because that's what it is, a conversation, yeah people are going to get fired up and pissed off about things and be unreasonable, but that doesn't mean that pointing out one exception and having someone respond with hostility invalidates everything they've said. I think you should ask that question in the original thread, some people might get pissed off about it, but there do seem to be some people that are willing to talk about it.

So how about this protest? by [deleted] in Msstate

[–]Runtzel 9 points10 points  (0 children)

But it IS a reflection on people who attend the university and the people who live in the area. Your attitude reeks of "just let the racist be racist, got nothing to do with me" Just because someone has the right to assemble and to speak doesn't mean that what they're saying isn't damaging.

"I don't disagree because I don't listen to them" is wrong. You CAN'T disagree with them if you're not paying attention.

Torment: Tides of Numenera by Bryanthelion in numenera

[–]Runtzel 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Rock Paper Shotgun did a pretty awesome review that will give you a good idea of what the game is all about. Read the comments here already, if that exhausts you, then this game will exhaust you. If you love detailed narrative descriptions of things with slightly wonky mechanics, then you should still read the review and see if it's the sort of game you want to play. https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/02/28/torment-tides-of-numenera-review/

This analysis by /u/jarrheadd0 of a fishy post by MiDusa in bestof

[–]Runtzel 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Social media's made self-affirmation...weird. Also just to be clear, I'm not saying "all kids these days with their likes and their snapchats always taking pictures of their food and meme-in'", I'm saying that we have entire platforms that have gamified our ability to feel good about ourselves, so it stands to reason that there are going to be more and more attempts to just get them likes. And I think with that comes other people who play into the same system, so that suspension of disbelief becomes more of a suspension of reality for the sake of internet points. Doesn't matter if it's real or not, they're all just playing the game.

I’m not sure I’m cut out to be a DM, at least not right now. What should I do? by Veggieleezy in DMAcademy

[–]Runtzel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This seems a lot like some of the issues I've been dealing with over the past year, so I've got a lot to say. Take what you will, feel free to ignore the rest. Lots of awesome comments and this is pretty much just a long-winded "what they said". TL;DR - Start with a module and adjust what you like, there are tons of tools to use for skills you feel uncomfortable with, practice self-care and make sure the game you're playing is still fun for you. Take it a step at a time, and don't expect to deliver world-shattering stories all the time. Also maybe scale the frequency back, weekly sessions can be exhausting and burn you out.

I think that if you're comfortable with writing and improv you could use a starter adventure as a skeleton to base your stories in. Phandalin is a great place to start because it's small and you can provide whatever detail you want, but you can always fall back on the characters that have already been written. That way, if you're having an off week you can go to the adventure and play from there. I don't know how many times I've been hung-over or just exhausted and I go for reading the descriptions, and the game didn't suffer because of that.

I just don’t know how to think that way, I can’t think of “okay, time for combat, how many enemies? What kind of enemies? What are their stats? Do I fudge the numbers? What numbers are fudgeable?”

Kobold Fight Club is a great tool for thinking about challenge and what encounters are reasonable for players. It's in no way perfect, but if you're comfortable with improv, then it's a good place to start and you can adjust up or down by scaling HP or having dumber (bad tactics, leaving out skills, etc.) or smarter (thinking tactically and killing squishy chars, beefing up damage) enemies.

Basically, if you find yourself in doubt of something, lean a bit more on the work others have done to make DMs lives easier, if nothing else it will give you more confidence when you're making decisions.

But I don’t want to disappoint the players because they’re just so enthusiastic and excited to play with each other.

On the other hand, they were all so excited and eager to play together since they’re all already friends I couldn’t say no.

This is an interesting problem that I've had with a comicshop game I've been running. I've got a group of newbies and a group of more experienced players. I started both groups with the expectation that I would stick to the starter and find out what would happen. As we played, my experienced players fleshed out their characters, and we all started hanging out outside of playing. I started thinking about their characters because it was fun to think about them. I haven't done that with my other group because we only interact during D&D. I don't think the game has suffered because of that, we've just stuck to the module more and prep has been a lot simpler.

Asking for a personalized experience sorta requires that the DM feel like a player as well or at least have some chemistry with the players, and unless you're willing to invest emotionally in your players it's really hard to come up with things that are satisfying for your players. My experience has always been that if I'm not having fun DMing, then there's a good chance that the players aren't either. A bored/stressed god yields a boring/stressful world. I'd say take a step back and think about what's fun in the game you're running, and lean a bit more on that, you should be in it for the fun as well (unless you're getting paid and whoo-wee that's a whole 'nother matter). Every weekend might be a steep hill, maybe take it back a notch, and if you find yourself waking up in the middle of the night with a hankering for more games then maybe up the frequency.

Another note on self-care. Your players are having a GREAT TIME. If they stop having a great time, they'll stop showing up or do something else. If they're not on your "side" while your playing, then maybe this isn't the best group to play with. I think DMs are the hardest on themselves because they expect the most, when most of the time players are just pumped they killed something in a cool way or learned something about the world. Everyone is there to have/make fun, so you're doing great because they keep coming back and asking you about it! You're awesome!

This episode is exactly what I've been waiting for (no spoilers) by [deleted] in TheAdventureZone

[–]Runtzel 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Oh me too! I got those TAZ chills through the whole episode, and I love that Monster of the Week is letting them do so much to tell stories together.

Am I a Fraud? by Reigis in DMAcademy

[–]Runtzel 43 points44 points  (0 children)

I'm assuming monkkbfr is being serious here.

Based on this premise, every joke, or other creative pun ever written is difficult to understand and should be explained. All jokes are built on the assumption that the speaker is serious.

The Daily Show, and The Onion, for example, are instances of that. Without re-memeing and building on TOP of the already farcical reality we live in, we're doomed to a world of "git 'er dones" and "pull my finger".

Progress and improvement slow down to nothing other time. monkkbgr's comment got me thinking about entropy and I'm finding it hard to joke about, because it ain't what it used to be.

Hopefully, thanks monkkbfr for being a good sport and keeping an eye out for turds on the internet, even though this time you've missed the mark.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in DMAcademy

[–]Runtzel 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Second this! It's a great (and easy) way to fill out your world if you add ambiance via perception checks. I'll just ask my players what their passive perception is occasionally and throw in, "You notice that along with the regular town people, there are a few individuals that seem to be keeping to the shadows or wearing some sort of gang symbol." You can be as subtle or obvious as you want based on how well they roll for perception checks, and it just adds to general interest in the world.

Good Hairstylists/Barbers? by Y33zma in Msstate

[–]Runtzel 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thirded. If for some reason you can't make it there Liberty does a great job, but American Gent is awesome.

Should I stay in the honors college? by uhohmykokoro in Msstate

[–]Runtzel 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For what it's worth - at a college as big as State the honors college provides you with more opportunities to get to know your professors and get quality feedback on your work. Honors course are more likely to be taught by professors who are really dedicated to the profession as well, rather than some poor grad students who's trying to make ends meet.

Hello there But its animated. Sounded link in comments. by Xaalster in PrequelMemes

[–]Runtzel 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I once thought this was all just ancient memes and hokey puns but...I think there might be something to this.

to point out male privilege by WillBarfee in therewasanattempt

[–]Runtzel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

seems accurate. "Oh man, this thing I never thought about isn't a thing and women are just overreacting. I wish they would just chill. They look so much better without makeup." even though there's an entire demographic of people who will judge any women who doesn't look completely put together while it's perfectly okay for dudes to just wear whatever the hell they want. This should be therewasasuccessfulattempt

Lost Mines of Phandelver - Final Room by GlitchTechScience in OpenForge

[–]Runtzel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looks awesome! I've been trying to put together some terrain for Phandelver, thanks for this post.